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Salesmanship Primer by B. Tracy
How to sell creatively? Creativity is a characteristic of all top salespeople. You have a self-concept in creativity too. Many people believe they are not particularly creative and this impacts their performance in that area. They 'create' a self-fulfilling prophecy. Creativity is stimulated by focused and specific questions, and by pressing problems, and by burning desires and goals. These fuel creativity. Be creative to find new and better prospects. To uncover buying motives (what will cause a particular prospect to buy). Many people have ingrained buyer resistance and they don't want to tell you why they don't want to buy. They are afraid you will find out what will motivate them and they are afraid you will keep pushing that button and get them to buy. To discover new product uses and applications, or new ways to use old products. Every sales act is an act of pure creativity. Sales agreements create our economy. Creative selling begins with thorough knowledge of your product or service. The fastest way to increase your income is to spend more time with better prospects. Basic analysis begins with 3 questions. 1. What are the 5-10 most attractive features of your product (either Libertarianism of the LP or an upcoming event)? List them in order of importance. You need to know this in order to prepare a sales presentation. 2. What needs do these features of your product satisfy for the prospect? What benefit does it offer? What's in it for your prospect? Put these next to the 5-10 features above. All customers are looking for benefits. They aren't looking for features. Features are merely a means to an end. 3. Assuming they are interested in the benefits, why should they buy it from your company? List 5-10 reasons why they should buy it from you. What does the LP offer that other parties do not offer? Strategic selling requires answers to these questions. Strategic selling- you identify the best possible customer market and concentrate on it single-mindedly. One big mistake is to look at everyone as a prospect of equal value. Actually one prospect may be worth 100 average prospects. Always fish for whales, not minnows. One whale can fill up an entire boat, but 1,000 minnows just fills up one bucket. So carefully evaluate where your biggest breakthrough opportunities are. Who exactly is your customer? Who buys your product right now? Who might buy your product in the future? (you'll live the rest of your life in the future,not the past). What direction is your market going in? What markets are likely to open up in the future? Why does your customer buy? What benefits do they perceive in your product? Who is your major competitor? Often, your biggest competitor is the ignorance of the market. People don't know what is available. This might be your biggest obstacle. But someone else might be selling the same thing as you are. Selling is similar to warfare. You must consider what your competitors are doing. They aren't standing still. What is your competitive advantage? What advantages does the LP have vs. the other political parties? What is our area of excellence? What is our unique product feature? What can we offer that others can't? The answer is the key to your sales presentation. It offers something that others cannot. What is the unique selling proposition? What makes it better in their eyes, for their needs? Identify this feature and build your presentation around this. Creative method. The 20 idea method. Do this for one month. Take your key problem or most pressing goal or problem and write it as a question. For example, "How can I close a greater percentage of the sales calls that I go on?" or 'how can I utilize my time better today?" Then sit down and write out 20 answers to the question. The last ones will take a long time. ex start your day earlier, start later but prepare before hand, etc. Generate hundreds of ideas per year and implement the best ones. By the first week, you'll have many good ways to increase business. All you need is one new idea that is 10 % better and you can make a breakthrough. Marginal improvements add up. Develop 20 ideas a day and use the best ones. Approaching the prospect. Many hang-ups in this area. First contact with the prospect will begin a process which will either end in a sale or not. So, the initial contact should be pre-planned. Unless you must break the preoccupation of the prospect, you never get to first base with them. People have their own personal concerns all day long. Don't start your sales presentation while the prospect is still on the phone, shuffling papers, doing office work. Your first task is to smash their preoccupation. One approach was the Corning safety glass salesman. He took a piece of unbreakable glass, hit it with a hammer, and prospects dove for cover. But they saw that it did not break. The next year, Corning gave all their salesmen a ball peen hammer and the safety glass. A good opening can break the preoccupation. A good, strong question, aimed at the benefit of the product can also do the trick. You only have 30 seconds in the beginning to get the prospect's complete attention. The prospect decides in the first 30 sec whether to listen to you. Your opening question has to be planned and rehearsed and tried on real, live prospects. Brian Tracy spent days on his opening question. What is the main need or concern of the person who can authorize sales training? They want increased sales. Tracy's question will deal with this specific need. "Mr. Smith, would you be interested in a proven method that will increase your sales by 20 to 30% ? Every single response was 'what is it?' "How does it work?," "can you come in and demonstrate it?" etc. The opening question also must answer the question, "Why should I listen to you?" Because I can increase your sales by 20-30% over the next year. The next question 'What is it?" should be generated from your opening question. They must ask , "What have you got?" If your opening question doesn't generate a 'what is it?' response, then it isn't a good enough opening question. You must break their preoccupation. If they say they aren't interested, then your opening question is not emphatic enough, is too weak, etc. It's not aimed at something the customer wants. Telling people how long you've been in business, the details of your product line, etc is of no interest to the prospect unless you can first address the key benefit that you think the prospect cares the most about. If you are selling computers, don't say "Do you currently have a computer?" as an opening question. Say something like, "How would you like to save $1,000 per month on your administrative costs?" This will make the prospect say "Okay, what is it?" For that kind of potential benefit, I'm willing to listen to you for a few minutes. 95% of people wing their opening question. The first job is to get the prospect to listen to you. They want to be sure of five things: 1. That you have something important to communicate. So you hint at your benefit in your first sentence. 2. You want to be sure you are talking to the right buyer. You must pre-qualify the prospect through the receptionist, etc to make sure you are dealing with the person in the organization who can authorize a sale. If you have doubts, ask "Are you the person that I should talk to about increasing sales in your organization?" Are you the person I should talk to about cutting costs in administration? They will either say yes or no, or point you to the right people. But there's no point in giving a wonderful sales presentation to someone who won't be in on the buying decision. 3. They must be assured that your visit will be short. People are pressed for time. Just a couple of minutes to explain the benefit that you have suggested in your first sentence. 4. They want assurance that they will be under no obligation, 5.and that you will use no high pressure. Simple approach. Ask a well-structured question which is aimed at the chief benefit. Their natural response is to answer your question before they can say anything else. Would you like to hear a proven method where you can improve your sales by 20% a year? They will think about the question and then say "What is it?" This particular question is 95% effective. I would just need about 10 minutes of your time to show you what I've got, and you can judge for yourself. They will say to just tell them what it is. But you say, Mr. Prospect, I would like to come down and show you what it is, and it will only take about 10 minutes of your time. (you aren't selling the product yet, you are selling the prospect on talking to you in person for 10 minutes to find out how their chief benefit will be realized). One step at a time. You can decide for yourself if this is something you are interested in. You might have to repeat this several times. Don't get sidetracked and send them literature, offer to drop the literature off and ask if you can have 10 minutes of their time to explain the benefits. If you can get this message across on the phone, you will be all right. Anyone can give you 10 minutes today if you have something of interest to them. Would you have 10 minutes free sometime around 3 o'clock tomorrow? etc. If they say no, then suggest another time. If they say, 'call me next Monday and we can set a time' this will cause your momentum to stall and the odds start to work against you. Get the appt on the first phone call. Say that you have your address book handy and that we can set a time right now. This is excellent salesmanship to set the appt right now. This eliminates another step in the selling process. Always call and confirm any appts before you show up there. Many appts fall through because the workplaces are busy. If you call to confirm and something has come up, you can get out your datebook and reschedule over the phone. On the phone, all you really want to do is to set up that first appointment and get it firmly scheduled and confirmed. You can't sell your product over the phone, it must be in person. Smile into the phone. Don't frown because they will feel it. An insincere smile on the phone is better than a sincere frown. Never try to sell your proposition over the phone. Don't completely describe it, only hint at it to get them to see you in person. You have the curiosity factor going for you. You must be insistent and retain the initiative, yet be friendly. Never mail information because it is better left with them in person than mailed. If they want you to mail them something, they are really saying, 'Can I get rid of you this easily?" Say that you'll be going past their office or home in a day or two and that you could just drop the info off and explain it in a few minutes. If they say, I'll be in all day tomorrow, just drop it off" then they are more interested, and you have the opportunity to make a short presentation. Say "I will drop it off personally, will you be there? If they say, no, no no, just mail it to me, then they aren't really that interested. They aren't interested enough to buy. The percentages are much much higher with prospects who will see you in person. Mailing has a low percentage. Unprofessional salespeople mail stuff to avoid rejection. Everything we do to avoid someone saying 'no' is a waste of time and will not lead to a sale. Nail down the appt by being aggressive yet polite. Thank them and make sure the prospect wrote down the right date. This reconfirms everything. But still call again before you go in, just leave a quick message with the receptionist stating that you will be there as previously promised. Reconfirm, thank them, build some expectancy before hanging up. March 15th at 3pm? Great. Thank you for your time. I"m looking forward to seeing you. You're really going to like what I have to show you. Leave then thinking you are going to show them something really interesting. When you go to the initial appointment, before you go in, stop and get a clear mental picture of yourself calm, confident, smiling, in complete control of the interview. See yourself performing well and think about your last successful sales call. This will smooth out your entire presentation and put you in the proper mindset to do well. Deep breathing. Positive affirmations. These help you get into the right mood to have a positive impact on others. Prepare yourself with positive visualizations. Build positive expectancy. More closing techniques. Try to figure out how to use each of these with your product or service. A Good salesperson should have about ten different ways to close a sale. These assume that you have prospected, found a prequalified lead, have asked appropriate questions to determine the buyer's real needs, have made a relevant presentation that is customized for this particular prospect, have answered objections, and so forth. The Secondary Close - Closing on a minor point, accepance of which denotes acceptance of the entire offer. Do you want it in blue or green? Do you want it delivered, or do you want to take it with you? The question isn't the 'yes or no' do you want to take it? The question is 'how are you going to take it?" Get the customer focused off of the major buying decision. This relieves the pressure of saying yes or no, and gets the customer focused on taking it home. Do you want the regular tires or the radials? If they still can't decide to take the car, say "Well, with this car, would you want the radial tires or the regular ones? The Radials? Well, lets see if we can get this written up and get the tires changed. The pressure of the buying decision has passed and the focus is on wrapping up the details. The Alternative Close. Give customer a choice between something and something. Never between something and nothing. Never say, "Do you want this or not?" because the customer can easily say No. Would you like a tall one or a short one? Would you like the one year membership or the discounted five year membership? Any answer is a yes. The Assumption Close. You assume that the purchace decision has been made, and you focus on the delivery. Would you like this delivered to your home or to your office? Well, let's just put it through right now (then start filling out the order form). Or 'Which one will you be taking home today?" Will that be cash or charge? This is powerful because it helps the customer get over that moment of indecision. Once you finish your presentation, you must switch gears smoothly and go straight into the close. Don't sit there as though you have just gone a round in a boxing match. Go smoothly into the close. Have it rehearsed beforehand. Smoothly get out the contract or business proposal or application form from your briefcase. This is like the end of a stage play. They don't figure out the climax of a play each time. Everything is planned out ahead of time. Just automatically switch into the close at the appropriate moment, just like you turn into your driveway. The Puppy Dog Close. Let the person touch, feel, try out the product for a few days. The pet shop owner does this when kids want a puppy, but the parents aren't so sure. He lets them take the puppy home for the weekend. By Sunday, the parents have fallen in love with the puppy and they keep it. "Why don't you take this beautiful, soft little puppy home for the weekend, and you can bring him back on Monday if you decide that you don't want him?" One photocopier company had a great copier. All they had to do was to let people use it for a week or so, and most of them bought it. They hired a bunch of minimally-trained salespeople and they trained them to convince businesses to try one of their machines free of charge for a few weeks. They sold hundreds of copiers because it was a great machine and everyone wanted one. Their salespeople were basically order-takers, but they were fantastically successful. The Ben Franklin Close. This mirrors the decision making process that most people use. We weigh the pros and cons, then decide. Ben was one of the best decision makers of his day. He was the first self-made millionaire in America, a politician, inventor and a scholar. Ben Franklin drew a line down the middle of a sheet of paper and put 'reasons in favor' and 'reasons opposed' on both sides. (Actually get out a sheet of paper.) You and the prospect work together to fill it out. You help the most with the 'reasons for' side. Make sure the prospect has about a dozen reasons to buy. On the 'reasons against' side, don't be much help at all. The net result is about 3 reasons against (the price, we have to dispose of the old machine, etc) and about a dozen or more reasons to buy it. Look at the paper and say, "Well, Mr. Prospect, it looks like you've made your decision." Make sure you know 12 reasons to buy beforehand. The Order Sheet Close. When you talk to the prospect, take out the order sheet and start filling it out. Take it out and boldly write down the date. If the prospect says, 'wait a minute, I just came in for some information." Then you say, 'Don't worry, I just have a terrible memory for details and I like to get all of my thoughts down on paper. If you don't want to buy anything, we can just void out the form and throw it away." If they do start to get interested in buying, then the form is already halfway filled out. Just keep filling out the form. Whatever the customer is interested in ( a blue one, the deluxe model, etc) write it on the order form. This personalizes the order form for the prospect. The prospect begins to identify with the order form, which has his preferences on it. At the end of the sales transaction, often you can just say, "By the way, what is the correct spelling of your last name?" J-O-N-E-S? Okay. Once they give you the spelling of their last name, they will go ahead with the purchace. We can do this with LPPa applications. Even if they don't join, we have a lot of their contact information. Another variation. Take out the order form at the end of the sales conversation and just start filling it out. Then ask for the correct spelling of their last name. If they spell it for you, then they will go ahead with the purchace. If they give you the mailing address, they have decided to go ahead. If they don't give this to you, then uncover the prospect's objection and overcome it, and try another close. The Walk-Away Close. These work in retail especially. Customer wants to check prices all over town. Just say that we have been in business around here for many years. Most of our customers are regulars and they have already compared prices all over town. Why go all over the place when everyone else has already done it for you? Why not go ahead with the purchace today, and we can wrap it up and you can take it home right now? You gave them a good reason not to spend hours visiting every other store in town. The reason that all the other customers have already done that for you. Why go all over town when you'll end up back here anyway, as all our other customers have done? Today Only Close. If they insist on checking all over town, then use an incentive, the 'today only' close. Mr.Prospect, this is the end of our fiscal period/ the end of a sales contest/ we only have one or two left/ the new ones are coming in tomorrow/ there is a price increase next week. If you take it tonight, I can try to get an additional $25 taken off. This is an incentive to buy it now, rather than put it off and compare prices. If you join the LPPgh before the end of the meeting, we will knock the price down from $24 to $20. The Go Ahead Close. If they still want to check prices, then use the 'go ahead' close. Don't argue. Just promise me that before you make a decision, come back and see me, and I'll give you the best deal in town. Now they are stuck. They have to come back and see you, to make sure they get the best deal. Don't give them a final price. I have to check with my manager, etc. But go out and find the best price you can, then check back with me and I'll give you the best deal in town. They come back with a price. Beat them on price if you can. If you can't beat the competition on price, then you can try to put together a package with free delivery, a warranty, throw in a power cord, etc. Then write it all out and say it is the best deal in town. Even if the price is higher, it has warranty, set-up, delivery, and some extras. This is the best deal in town. Then they can either buy it from you right now, or they can go back to the other stores with your offer and try to get them to beat it. "Why don't you give us a try? Why don't we wrap it up now, and have it delivered? What is the exact spelling of your last name, etc.? The Doorknob Close. After you try to sell something and they don't buy it. They are resisting you, but they have a hidden objection that you haven't been able to find out. You gracefully thank them for their time, and you head for the door. They start to relax, their minds wander to what they will do once you are gone, their sales resistance starts to drop. As you put your hand on the doorknob, you turn and say, "Mr. Prospect, before I go, just let me ask you one question. I have tried to present my product information the best way that I know how, but I'm not very experienced selling this product. I would really appreciate it if you would just tell me one thing. What was the real reason that you didn't buy this product from me today? The person will be under no pressure, so they will usually tell you the final objection. Then you say, Oh, didn't I explain that to you properly? Oh, that's my fault, doggone it. Then you wak right back in (This will only take a second, Mr. Prospect). Then you walk right back in, open your briefcase, and you start closing on that final objection. Well, I didn't think that that copier could make the fancy copies that we need here. Mr. Prospect, you mean I didn't explain that properly? We have a warranty and a guarantee that takes care of that, and if could get you that, will you be willing to go ahead right now? You go right back in and close on the customer's objection, only there is less sales resistance. Show him that it can make those kinds of copies. Closing On Referrals. One referral is worth 15 cold calls. Every single buyer or non-buyer is a source of referrals. With a referral, you are piggybacking on the credibility of the person who has referred you. You can get in to see anybody, if you have a referral from someone who knows them closely. Person either buys or does not buy. You are now looking for referrals. One salesperson spends all of January looking for referrals. He stops by everyone who bought or almost bought stuff from him last year, and does a service call, then asks for referrals. How are you doing, how's it going, are you having any problems? Are you satisfied with the service? If there is a problem, he jots it down and takes care of it. If no problems, it is just a courtesy call. He then says, It's always slow just after the New Year. Who else do you know who might need my product or service this year. Since they have had a nice 15 minute visit, the customer will say, Why don't you talk to Bill Smith at XYZ company? Would you happen to know 2 or 3 other people who could use my product? Yes, I know a couple of people. (this is an alternative close, you give them a choice of 2 or 3 names and they picked 2). Then, I would really appreciate it if I could get their names. Bill Smith and Tom Jones. Do you have their phone numbers handy? They usually give referrals for people they know pretty well. You write down the phone numbers and say, Mr. Prospect (or customer), out of these two names, which one is the most likely to need my product in the next year? Who should I call on first? Well, call on Old Bill, because he just opened a new office. Mr. Prospect, would you do me a favor? Would you call Bill and tell him that I am coming over to see him about this? So far, he has said yes to you several times. Yes, I know 2 people. Yes, I have their phone numbers. Yes, Bill is the best prospect. Yes, I'll call Bill for you. He then calls bill for you and says, Tom Smith is coming over right now to show you something that I found very interesting. I think you should talk to him. Then you go over, get in to see Bill in a few minutes, and tell him what you've got. Use a good opening question from the earlier tape. The Secretary lets you go right in. If you have a good referral-generating system, then you never have to do cold calls again. If you are still doing cold calls, then you haven't developed your referral system yet. Insurance agents talk to 10 people whom they know, get five names from each, then get two referrals from each of them, and they never have to make cold calls again. 10 keys to success in selling (helpful hints) 1. Learn to love your work, and commit yourself to becoming outstanding at it. Take the time, pay the price, to become the best at what they do. Many salespeople spend their entire careers without deciding to become excellent at it. The race goes to the person who is a little bit better in the critical areas. The excellent salespeople make lots of money. You can't really like yourself until you become good at whatever you do. Many people are unhappy for this reason. Everyone can become good at something. 2. Decide exactly what you want from life. Set it as a goal, think about how to achieve it every day. Nothing worthwhile ever comes without sacrifice. Only 3% of people have written goals. Most don't write it down or think about it every day. If someone wakes you up at 3AM and asks you what your major, definite goal in life is, you should be able to tell them (then shoot them). 3. Back every goal and plan with determination and willpower. Don't hold back, don't get discouraged. Your level of persistence in the face of adversity and setbacks is the exact measure of your belief in yourself. How you respond to setbacks determines how your life will turn out. Circumstances do not make the man -- they simply reveal him to himself. It's not how far you fall, but how high you bounce, that counts. 4. Commit to lifelong learning. Read, listen to tapes, attend seminars, take courses. Your mind and what you put into it is your most valuable asset. Gather information and put it to practical purposes, and the rewards will follow. Practice something new every day. 5. Use your time wisely. Always ask, 'What is the most valuable use of my time right now?' If you are always spending your time in the most valuable way, then you will get ahead of most other people. 6. Find some role models and follow what they do. Follow the leaders, don't follow the followers. Look at the best people in your field and emulate them. Hang out with them. A Harvard study said that If you associate with a reference group (friends and associates and family) who are not success-oriented, then that alone can stop you from becoming a success in life. Your choice of associates is important. If you associate with turkeys, you won't be able to fly with the eagles. We are strongly affected by the suggestive influences of those around us, good or bad. 7. Guard your integrity as a sacred thing. Integerity goes beyond not lying, cheating or embezzling. The vast majority don't do these things. Be true to your own self, and to your own goals. 8. Use your inborn creativity. Everyone can be excellent at something. The belief that we are just average holds most people back. Most people have unused reserves of creativity. Look at obstacles as challenges. 9. Treat every prospect like a million dollar customer. Use the Golden Rule. Also ask yourself, What kind of company would my company be, if everyone in it acted just like I do? This is Kant's Universal Maxim. Conduct your life as though everything you do would become a Universal Maxim, or the general rule for everyone. 10. Work hard, and you will succeed. the end.